KEY POINTS:
For young lovers in New Delhi, this Valentine's Day could be a little spicier than usual.
On February 14, starry-eyed couples in India's capital are to be protected against "moral vigilantes" by volunteers schooled in martial arts and others armed with chilli spray.
The protection units were set up after right-wing Hindu activists attacked women in a pub in the southern city of Mangalore for indulging in "un-Indian behaviour".
The National Panthers Party, a political party which has its headquarters in
Indian-administered Kashmir, has set up the protective love squads.
The head of the party's Delhi chapter, Sanjoy Sachdev, said: "Our volunteers will be armed with chilli pepper which we will throw into the eyes of anyone [assaulting young people].
"Ordinary people have to act against the fundamentalists."
The bar attack was committed by nearly 40 men from Sri Ram Sena (SRS), or Lord Ram's Army. The women said they were molested and beaten.
The founder of SRS, Pramod Mutalik, was arrested and then released on bail.
INDEPENDENT
